The Role of Ecological Constraints on Expertise Development 165

Talent Development & Excellence

Vol. 2, No. 2, 2010, 165–179

The Role of Ecological Constraints on Expertise

Development Duarte Araújo1*, Cristina Fonseca1, Keith Davids2, Júlio Garganta3, Anna Volossovitch1,

Regina Brandão4 and Ruy Krebs5

Abstract: The role of ecological constraints on the acquisition of sport expertise is

gaining attention in sport science, although more research is needed. In this position

paper we provide an ecological explanation for expertise acquisition, as alluding to

qualitative data that support the idea that unconventional, even aversive,

environmental constraints may play an important role in the development of world-

class athletes. We exemplify this argument by profiling the role of unconventional

practice environments using association football in Brazilian society as a task vehicle.

Contrary to the traditional idea that only deliberate training and development

programmes can lead to the evolution of expertise, we propose how expert

performance might be gained through highly unstructured activities in Brazilian

football, that represent a powerful and little understood implicit environmental

constraint that can lead to expertise development in sport.

Keywords:

ecological psychology, environmental constrains, development, expertise, association

football

Sport expertise develops through interactions between an individual and specific

performance environments (Davids & Baker, 2007; Farrow, Baker, & MacMahon, 2008).

There have been some attempts to explain facilitative and structured characteristics of the

environment (e.g., material facilities, coaching, family support networks) in the acquisition

of expertise (Côté & Fraser-Thomas, 2008; Davids & Baker, 2007). In this position paper,

we argue that the environment–performer interaction is most important in this process,

contrary to the traditional organismic asymmetry (Dunwoody, 2006) observed in

theoretical explanations of expertise acquisition in sport. The converse of this argument is

that „environmental asymmetry‟ will also not provide an adequate explanation of expertise

acquisition. We argue that research on expertise, which has examined the role of

environmental constraints in formally organized sports training programs, might be

limited in scope (Davids & Baker, 2007; Starkes, Helsen, & Jack, 2001). In some societies

more informal and even aversive environmental constraints exert a powerful, and little

understood, influence on the acquisition of expertise in specific sports. Here we examine

one example, football in Brazil, but expertise researchers need to identify other similar

examples, such as ice hockey and basketball in the United States, or cricket in India and

Australia (Phillips, Davids, Renshaw, & Portus, in press; Weissensteiner, Abernethy, Farrow,

& Müller, 2008). Due to differences in athlete backgrounds, evidence suggests that the

acquisition of expertise follows idiosyncratic pathways (Phillips, Davids, Renshaw, &

Portus, 2010). In our analysis, we examine ecological theories and empirical research in a

1 Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal * Faculty of Human Kinetics, Estrada da Costa, 1495-688 Cruz Quebrada, Portugal. Email:

daraujo@fmh.utl.pt 2 Queensland University of Technology, Australia 3 University of Oporto, Portugal 4 University of São Judas Tadeu, São Paulo, Brazil 5 University of the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil

ISSN 1869-0459 (print)/ ISSN 1869-2885 (online)

2010 International Research Association for Talent Development and Excellence

http://www.iratde.org

D. Araújo et al.

166

systematic, but not exhaustive, literature review with a particular emphasis on research on

Brazilian football. In support of these arguments we allude to qualitative data in the form

of document analysis and verbally reported information from existing and past football

experts in the public domain. Overall, we attempt to show how the path to expertise can

emerge under multiple interacting constraints, as described by a dynamical systems

theory approach (Phillips et al., 2010), and how it can be constrained by apparently

aversive, unconventional learning contexts during development. These observations

indicate the need for an ecological theory, such as Bronfenbrenner‟s bioecological

framework (e.g., Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006), as a starting point to organize the study

of all the multi-level dynamics of the different sub-systems involved in the acquisition of

expertise. Our analysis of Brazilian football reveals the need for further work on studying

the role of informal, unconventional environmental constraints on the development of

expertise in sport. Undeniably high levels of football expertise exist in Brazil, whose

players have achieved highly in international football, and whose national teams have won

five World Cups, besides accumulating victories at younger age groups, and with their

female, futsal, and beach-football teams. We start by examining some current literature on

the acquisition of expertise, with an emphasis on environmental constraints, interpreting

the ideas with Bronfenbrenner‟s bioecological framework.

How to Understand Sport Expertise: The Role of Ecological Psychology

A recent review concluded that: (i) the expert‟s advantage is selective to only some

components of performance; (ii) experts use different sources of information to control

their actions compared to non-experts; and (iii), practice and developmental experiences

of experts differ from non-experts (Abernethy, 2008). With regard to the last point, Côté

and Fraser-Thomas (2008) argued that coaching, play and practice are key variables that

significantly influence the skill acquisition process. They highlighted the need to consider

in skill acquisition, not only training time and specialized practice, but also physical and

psycho-social constraints, such as injuries and enjoyment. They concluded that there were

many unresolved questions regarding the amount and type of play and practice activities

required at different stages of an athlete‟s progression towards expertise. Indeed, Davids

and Baker‟s (2007) review highlighted that an increasing number of studies have

considered the important influence that environmental constraints have on the acquisition

of sport expertise. For example, the historical emphasis that a nation or community places

on a particular sport can have a significant influence on international competitive success

(e.g., Canada with ice hockey, Kenya with distance running, Brazil with football, Jamaica

with sprinting, Australia with Cricket). Clearly, more research is needed to clarify the role

of socio-cultural constraints in the acquisition of sport expertise. Currently, much more

research has been conducted on specific practice environment variables such as the

quantity and type of practice, and access to social and physical resources (Davids & Baker,

2007). Analysis of environmental constraints may be interpreted through the framework of

ecological psychology (Araújo & Davids, 2009).

From an ecological perspective, it is important to understand how some individuals are

able to interact with environmental constraints in a specific performance context,

functioning effectively with available physical and social resources (Araújo, 2007).

Therefore, an important part of exhibiting expertise involves realizing actions, which are

consistent with socio-cultural mores (Barab & Plucker, 2002). Social, historical, and

possibly other external processes need to be considered as integral constraints on skilled

action. The performance of an expert should be conceived as being influenced by an

interaction of external and internal constraints (Barab & Plucker, 2002). Only through

acknowledgement of the ecological nature of expert performance can meaningful

practice contexts be designed. In this analysis, Bronfenbrenner‟s bioecological framework

may provide a useful start point.

The Role of Ecological Constraints on Expertise Development 167

Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model to Guide Research on Expertise

Development

To understand sport expertise, multi-scale and multi-disciplinary theoretical descriptions

are needed (for a good example see Phillips et al., 2010). Bronfenbrenner‟s bioecological

model (e.g., Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006) provides an evolving theoretical framework

for analysing how the environment shapes human development throughout the lifespan

(see also Bronfenbrenner, 2005). An important characteristic of the model is its

interdisciplinarity and its integrative focus on youth, as well as policies and programs for

enhancing youth development. Bronfenbrenner was also influenced by systems theory in

biology, emphasizing interaction, change and stability over the lifespan. He explicitly

acknowledged the importance of time for understanding human development (Krebs,

2009).

The defining four interactive dimensions of the bioecological model are process (e.g.,

quality of practice according to the individual), person (e.g., somatotype), context (e.g.,

parents involvement) and time (e.g., a practice session, a career; Bronfenbrenner &

Morris, 2006; see Figure 1). Davids and Baker (2007) noted effects of interacting

constraints on the development of expert performance, despite variations in genetic

structure, since high heritability of particular traits is clearly influenced by environmental

components. For example, the approach of Weissensteiner et al. (2009) is generative in its

methodological approach, and has emphasized the role of critical constraints. This is an

invaluable contribution to our understanding of expertise in sports, which provides

conceptualization beyond the limitations of existing research (see e.g., Williams & Reilly,

2000). However, their approach contrasts with the approach taken in this article in several

meta-theoretical aspects. For example the model presented by Weissmentreiner et al.

(2009) interpreted the individual athlete and the environment as separate and interactive.

This dualist approach is characterized by viewing the socio-cultural background as

sustaining individual characteristics (e.g., cognitive, perceptual and technical). An

ecological approach focuses on individual adaptability in evolutionary functional contexts

and views the individual and environment as equally contributing to the relevant scale of

analysis for understanding human behaviour and performance. In line with this focus,

expert performers are not seen as an aggregate of attributes, factors or components, but

Figure 1. Pictorial description of Bronfenbrenner´s bioecological model. N.B.: Concerning the context,

only microsystems are physically located. The others are “system forces”, i.e., describing how other

microsystems influence the person and the particular microsystem under analysis. The mesosystem is

formed by other microsystems frequented by the person. The exosystem is formed by the

microsystems that are not frequented by the person under analysis, i.e. those which influence the

mycrosystem under analysis. The macrosystem is a network of microsystems of a certain culture

delimited by the researcher. Beyond the person and the context, the bioecological model includes time

and process. Process describes the characteristics of person-context interactions over time. Also,

person and context change over time.

D. Araújo et al.

168

active individuals engaged in dynamical transactions with their functionally-defined

environments (Araújo, 2007). Also, it is important to note that although Weissensteiner et

al. (2009) discussed the role of the environment, they did not directly present explicit

processes for how interactions between individuals and a particular environment might

occur. When they referred to attributes and factors, they described components that exist

in an individual, with allusions to context simply being the foundation for the

possession/acquisition of expertise, not its ontological existence. Much of the discussion

in Weissensteiner et al.‟s (2009) study concerned how context enriches the internal factors

acquired by performers, i.e., how the environment “molds essential player characteristics

for task success” (p. 280). This “identification of the important components” (p. 291)

contrasts sharply with how individuals and contexts co-determine each other through

ecological practice (Barab & Plucker, 2002). Instead of a performance that is dependent

on the internal functioning of linked components, which interact but are not co-

determinate, both individual and environment have the potential to be impacted and

transformed by the interactions. The ecological dynamics approach that may be initiated

with Bronfenbrenner‟s bioecological model (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006) views

dynamics as dominated by these interactions, by highlighting the capability for self-

organization and expression of emergent properties. Apart from exhibiting this

organismic asymmetry (Dunwoody, 2006) at a meta-theoretical level the studies of

Weissensteiner et al. (2008, 2009) provided important evidence for the role of informal

environmental constraints on the development of sport expertise.

In highlighting this issue in their work, we draw attention to Bronfenbrenner‟s views about

the environment, in which he emphasises the interactions between the individual and the

behavioural process, along historical and personal timescales (see Figure 1). Therefore,

examples from the existing literature about the nature of environmental constraints on the

acquisition of expertise, particularly related to Brazilian football, are interpreted with

insights from the bioecological model. In 1979, Bronfenbrenner conceptualized the

environment in terms of nested systems: the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and

macrosystem. These nested sub-divisions form the basis of our exposition in the following

section of the paper.

Bronfenbrenner’s Microsystem

The foundation of the bioecological framework is the microsystem, defined as a pattern of

activities, social roles, and interpersonal relations experienced by the developing person

in a given setting with particular features that influence engagement with the immediate

environment. Therefore, effects of the physical environment in football, such as the

quantity and the quality of practice, facilities, types of surfaces, or ball materials afford

exploration that influences development. This topic is explored on this article using

Brazilian football practice as a task vehicle to show how uncommon, even aversive, social

and self-generated exploration can be.

Previous research has proposed the importance of the power law of practice as the basis

for performance improvement (Newell & Rosenbloom, 1981). Although this apparent

power law characteristic of practice has been exposed as an artefact of group analyses,

more recently, it has been argued that the amount of deliberate practice – intense practice

requiring concentrated effort to specifically improve performance – is predictive of

expertise attainment (Ericsson, Krampe, & Tesch-Römer, 1993; Ericsson, 2007). Other work

has suggested that it is not simply the total amount of practice that is important, but also

the nature of experiences during practice that is critical to the acquisition of expertise

(Côté, Baker, & Abernethy, 2007). It has been observed that experts do spend more time

overall in practice, but also devote more time participating in specific activities which are

most relevant for developing essential skills for the highest level of performance. Recent

evidence (e.g. Côté et al., 2007) in several sports suggested that although deliberate

practice may be critical, so too may be exposure, during development, to many hours of

games that resemble sports – the concept of deliberate play (Coté & Hay, 2002). Deliberate

The Role of Ecological Constraints on Expertise Development 169

play consists of activities, such as “street matches/backyard games”, that encourage

adaptive skill, creativity and improvisation and role-playing rather than pure sport skill

repetition, where enjoyment rather than skill improvement, is the main participant motive.

This idea fits with data from long-term studies of Soviet and Russian swimmers

demonstrating that athletes with better results in international adult competitions

undertook smaller training volumes and had poorer results in age-group competitions

when younger (Barynina & Vaitsekhovskii,1992; Bulgakova, Popov, & Partyka, 2002;

Platonov, 1994).

The approach advocated by Ericsson and his colleagues (1993), where expertise is simply

the end result of amassing a putative number of hours of deliberate practice, has come

under some criticism. For instance, this approach reinforces the idea that specialization

during early stages of development is necessary in order to attain elite performance as an

adult. Early specialization is defined by an early start age in sport, an early involvement in

one sport, an early involvement in high intensity formalised training, and an early

involvement in high competitive sport (Baker, Cobley, & Fraser-Thomas, 2009). In fact, the

early specialization approach has also been associated with several negative

consequences in developing athletes (Baker, 2003), including the risk of burn out and

dropping out of sport (Petlichkoff, 1993, see also Côté, Baker, & Abernethy, 2003).

Moreover, there have been some inconsistent associations between early specialization

and expertise acquisition (see Baker et al., 2009). Research indicates that sport is not the

only domain where these inconsistencies have been observed. In the music domain there

is a growing interest in informal learning that, according to Wright and Kanellopoulos

(2010, p. 73), is defined as an “attempt to be immersed in intense situations of non-formal

learning, and therefore results in the creation of non-traditional social learning

environments, combining interactive, non-linear and self-directed processes”. Moreover,

qualitative data have indicated the existence of more than the one (i.e., traditional) route

for music learning (Cope, 2002) and evidence suggests that musicians combine formal

and informal learning strategies in their practice (Folkestad, 2005). Folkestad (2005)

highlighted that in formal learning situations, both teacher and student are directed

towards how to make music, whereas in the informal learning situations musicians are

directed towards how to play music, raising the question of: should performers “learn to

play or play to learn?” It seems that the relationship between practice and proficiency is

more complex than originally thought, and depends on more than simply assessing the

number of hours spent deliberately practicing.

There is some indicative evidence for the success of players who have received little

systematic coaching. For instance, as stated by Salmela and Moraes (2004), Brazilian

Football is quite intriguing, since many players aged 16 to 17 years, have received little, or

any, structured coaching, in contrast to a multitude of unstructured football experiences

played on the streets. Fonseca and Garganta (2008) interviewed elite players, elite

coaches and sport scientists, in order to garner perceptions about the implications of

unstructured football played on the street for game skill learning. In general, elite players

revealed that they had widely experienced unstructured street football from very young,

and they considered this type of activity at least as important as structured training,

undertaken in later years. Moreover, all the interviewees corroborated the perception that

unstructured football played on the street improved skill learning. The pleasure and the

passion that a child gains from playing football and the possibilities for exploration,

creativity and goal achievement under unpredictably variable performance conditions,

were considered essential for developing football expertise. Players interviewed also

considered that unstructured street football allowed them to become familiar with

assorted features of the game, because it is feasible for players to try many skills in

different conditions without fear of ridicule or recrimination from observing coaches.

According to Rinus Michels (2001), designated by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de

Football Association) as the Coach of the Twentieth Century, unstructured football played

on the streets is a most natural learning environment. He argued that it is played daily in a

D. Araújo et al.

170

competitive form, under all sorts of conditions. He noted that, it is rare to see young

players busy practicing isolated technical or tactical drills in an explicit way. On the

contrary, learning almost always occurs implicitly within the competitive form of the street

game, where children can learn from their mistakes, unaware of the technical, tactical,

psychological and physiological abilities they are developing through their less

formalized scrimmages. Indeed many generations of world-class Brazilian football players

have mentioned the value of their early specialization in football through exposure to

enjoyable, uncoached and unconventional practices. Importantly, their early specialization

is in agreement with the definition of Baker and colleagues (Baker et al. 2009). However,

these experiences contrast with traditional practices, mainly because of its variable,

unstructured way of practicing, with high intensity, from an early age, and with an

abundance of unplanned competitive situations (see Table 1). This kind of practice also

differs from the notion of “deliberate play” highlighted earlier (Coté & Hay, 2002), in that

these activities were not games that resembled football, but they were real football

experiences practiced under changing ecological constraints. Similarities in the nature of

the specific task goals, as well as a number of rules and conditions for that activity, were

such that players and observers perceived that a football match was being played. These

insights suggest a role for non-deliberate practice (or play) in expertise development,

since these practices socially emerge and their purpose is not performance improvement

per se, but intrinsic motivation and achievement (Araújo & Davids, 2009, Baker et al.,

2009). As can be seen, Brazilian cultural constraints provide a rich and stimulating context

for illuminating evidence on acquiring expertise in football (see Table 1). In this respect,

an important activity practiced by all Brazilian footballers is pelada.

In the Brazilian football context pelada provides variable practice experiences (“nude” is

a direct translation, perhaps alluding to the “naked” environments where these football

games occur). It is the cultural term used to describe football played with adapted norms

and rules in a variety of locations – such as streets, beaches, town squares, yards, courts

and dirt fields (Fonseca, 2007). Pelé said of pelada that: “It is necessary to grasp these

opportunities with one‟s fingernails. All those experiences, and that conviviality, helped

me a lot in my preparation” (Manual do Atleta Inteligente, 2008, p. 48, our translation).

Table 1. Quotes From World Class Brazilian Football Players Identifying the Value of Their Early

Specialization in Football by Means of Unstructured, Non-Coached and Enjoyable Practice (Our

Translation)

Sócrates n/d

Sócrates is one of the top 125 FIFA

best players in history still. He played

as a midfielder and striker in the

Brazilian national team in the World

Cups of 1982 and 1986.

We started playing football on the street with an avocado seed

(…) the fact that I had learned this way was excellent. When you

play in orchard, with irregular surfaces and surrounded by

trees, there is a need for developing a bunch of abilities in

order to prevent injuries. To not get hurt, and to you‟re your eye

on the look to the ball and on the game, we also needed to keep

an eye out for the mango trees and their roots on the ground.

Zico in Assaf & Garcia, 2003, pp. 28

Zico is one of the best Brazilian

players ever; and the 14th best player

of all time in the world elected by

FIFA. Zico played as a midfielder in

the Brazilian national team in the

World Cups of 1982 and 1986.

I used to spend my whole day with the ball. Sometimes I made

little sock-balls and sometimes I played with those rubber balls.

I threw it at the wall and then I tried to master the ball alone in

my room. Sometimes, I played as a goalkeeper and all those

things gave us reflexes. Maybe, a portion of my ability is a result

of all these practices.

Castro, 1995, pp. 38, Castro wrote

Garrincha’s biography

Garrincha was a Brazilian right winger

and forward who helped the Brazilian

national team win the World Cups of

1958 and 1962. FIFA considers him the

best Brazilian player ever after Pelé.

He is also widely regarded as the best

dribbler in football history.

Dribbling the ball barefeet, without twisting or damaging your

ankle on uneven surfaces is a considerable feat in itself.

Dribbling on the border of a slope and not allowing the ball to

drop down was another great challenge. Garrincha performed

both of these tasks in a very easy way. After losing control of the

ball on the uneven surface so often he learned how to dribble

on uneven surfaces and against the opponents. Garrincha really

hated to go down a slope to retrieve the ball – so he tried not to

let it drop out of control down there.

The Role of Ecological Constraints on Expertise Development 171

In a sample of 93 Brazilian woman elite players, Rosa, Costa, and Navarro (2009) identified

the surfaces for football practices before and after players had reached 14 years of age.

Findings are described in Figure 2.

In Figure 2 it is clear that all the contexts involved high levels of practice until 14 years of

age. Moreover, the highest levels were associated with practice on streets and courts (i.e.,

futsal). The only surface more prominent in practice after 14 years of age is grass.

Importantly, even after 14 years of age, players continue to be engaged in futsal, playing

on cement and wooden surfaces, continuing their early diversification. However, this is not

a diversification achieved by practicing a range of different sports (Baker et al., 2009;

Côté, 1999). This experience exemplifies a ‟diversification within specialization‟ in

football.

Futsal is a 5 vs. 5 version of football that is played officially on indoor courts (FIFA official

area is 40 m x 20 m). However, it is also played in unofficial ways outdoors on courts of

different sizes. Its roots are associated with the scarcity of available football fields in the

1930s, with games taking place on empty basketball courts and other small-sized areas

(Fonseca 2007; Tolussi, 1982). Futsal has been seen as another major contributor to the

development of Brazilian football players, particularly in football schools. In 2002 (i.e., the

last time Brazil won a World Cup) at least eight of the eleven players on the pitch, of the

Brazil National Team, practiced Futsal (Fonseca, 2007). In a sample of 186 young male

football players, Marques and Samulski (2009) found that 80.6% had played futsal. Rosa, et

al. (2009) reported that, in a sample of 93 elite woman football players, 97.85% had played

futsal. Thus, pelada is a broad description for the diversification of football practice task

constraints. To better illustrate the pelada‟s context, Table 2 summarizes the descriptions

found in Freire (2006), Scaglia (1999, 2005), Silva and Chaveiro (2007), as well as Cabral

and Neves (2007).

As observed in Table 2, pelada contrasts with traditional practice through unique

constraints like: (i) its irregular surfaces (e.g., changing size, changing type, changing

slopes), (ii) its competitive balance where players change from one team to another

independent of the number of players in each team, their gender and their age to provide

equitable competitive conditions, and (iii) its unplanned time schedule, and unpredictable

Figure 2. Surfaces used for football practice in Brazil before and after players reach 14 years of age

(Rosa et al., 2009).

D. Araújo et al.

172

Table 2. Environmental and Task Constraints That Characterize Brazilian Pelada (See Text for

References)

Local of practice Street, beach, court, dirt-fields, formal fields, backyards or any available space.

Different surfaces and conditions can generate different variations of football

games.

Field dimension Tacit, undefined and variable. The pitch can be constantly adjusted through

implicit agreement amongst players, based on player‟s suggestions or to adjust to

the particularities of the task, or of the local (e.g., before the building).

Facilities Stones, shoes or bags are used as posts, and goal sizes can be modified according

to the game. Game can be played with any kind of ball or something able to be

kicked. Uniform can be t-shirts versus shirtless. Players also often are playing

barefoot.

Team conditions Adaptive and versatile. The number of players is adjusted to keep ongoing

challenge, fun and well-balanced levels of competition. It can happen with

different age-groups and gender playing together, with numerical disparity and

different levels of ability.

Intervention No coach or instructors intervention. Learning happens among players, who

usually try to replicate skills performed by elite players or skilful friends.

Functions and tactical

positions

There are no fixed positions or tactical arrangements. A player can change

position or function many times during the game. And the actual game might help

players arrange themselves in defensive and attack movements and positions.

Targets Replicate the same technical movement or skill performed by a famous player.

Try to execute something new or in a new way. Have fun with friends. Maintaining

high levels of competition and challenges as criteria for the continuity of the

game, besides winning.

Training sessions The game happens until a number of goals have been scored, reach a set time or

even players get tired or lose fun and enjoyment. During a whole day, the game

might be stopped many times and restarted in an old or new configuration.

break times. From these findings it can be noted that Brazilian football players experience

a range of games, contexts, surfaces, and cultural situations. Also it is evident that, when

compared with experiences of higher social classes in other developed countries, the

development of expertise occurs in apparently aversive contexts and follows different

“norms” in local contexts. In Brazilian culture, it is clear that early specialization in

football, developed through unstructured practice, without coaching interventions and full

of fun and enjoyment, is possible.

At Bronfenbrenner‟s microsystem level, some of the secondary influences on behaviour

(Baker & Horton, 2004) should also be considered at this level, such as coaching (Davids &

Baker, 2007), interaction with peers and relative age effects (Musch & Grondin, 2001).

Bronfenbrenner’s Mesosystem

Beyond the microsystem, the mesosystem is defined as comprising the relationships

existing between two or more settings (i.e., microsystems). This level constitutes the

family environment, or activities in the wider sport club beyond just training. (e.g., social

and community activities). Importantly, parents play a critical role in promoting the

athletic development of their children. Côté (1999) noted that athletes undergo stages of

development and that resources provided by parents shift as athletes mature. Pelé,

considered the best footballer ever, once observed that:

My first experiences with the ball were promoted by my father. Since I was a boy he taught me some tricks

and motivated me to perfect my natural talent. It was him who encouraged me to improve the heading

skills and to kick with the left leg. If you don't work hard you will get nothing, said my father. (Manual do

Atleta Inteligente, 2008, p. 46, our translation)

Bronfenbrenner’s Exosystem

The next level of Bronfenbrenner‟s framework is the exosystem which comprises the

linkages and processes between two or more settings. In these settings events occur that

indirectly influence processes within the immediate setting (i.e., the microsystem) of the

developing individual. A good example in sport involves certain aspects of the

The Role of Ecological Constraints on Expertise Development 173

demographics of expertise, such as birth location of the athlete. Consider the existence of

locations without available places for practice. This may happen due to urban and

geographical constraints. In these cases, if children want to practice they either have to

travel to other locations with appropriate facilities or they have to use local

unconventional facilities/surfaces to acquire skill, for example, when playing football on

the slope of a hill, or in a middle of a street where cars and people are constantly passing.

Locally, learners can engage in this type of practice whenever they want. In other regions,

the saturation of practice locations, such as the fields of the local professional team,

promotes the discovery of other surfaces for other players to practice (e.g., a tennis court

or a small garden). In fact, evidence suggests that the size of the city in which an athlete

develops may influence their likelihood of attaining elite level performance (Carlson,

1988). Individuals growing up in rural areas and smaller towns and cities have a higher

probability of becoming professional athletes than those growing up in large cities, even

though the latter may have access to superior sport facilities and more highly organized

junior sport competitions. Côté, MacDonald, Baker, and Abernethy (2006) found that the

optimal city size for athletic development appears to be between 1,000 and 500,000

people. This effect may be due to the possibility of developing athletes in smaller

communities receiving more social support, and having available a greater amount of safe

recreational space (Davids & Baker, 2007).

Bronfenbrenner’s Macrosystem

This is the highest level in Bronfenbrenner‟s systemic approach and can be described as

the broad socio-cultural context for the developing individual (e.g., national sport

culture). The bioecological model indicates that the analysis of expertise acquisition is

based on an intricate network of influences, which is somehow missed if we simply

assume them as primary and secondary influences on sport expertise (Baker & Horton,

2004).

Contrasting with data from studies conducted in the US, Canada, Australia, and parts of

Europe, Salmela and Moraes (2003) suggested different roles of coaching, families and

cultural contexts for the development of expertise in countries with emergent economies

and extensive lower socioeconomic classes, such as Brazil. Despite attempts to identify

and organize the constraints for adequate long-term expertise development in young

athletes, we know little about the role of macro environmental constraints. In a series of

papers, Salmela and colleagues (e.g., Marques & Salmulski, 2009; Salmela, Marques,

Machado, & Durand-Bush, 2006; Moraes, Rabelo, & Salmela, 2004; Moraes, Salmela, Rabelo,

& Vianna, 2004; Salmela & Moraes, 2003) analysed experiences of Brazilian football

players showing that, at junior level, the developmental pathways of squad Brazilian

footballers (U18) differed from those of National squad footballers of other countries

(Visscher, Elferink-Gemser, & Lemmink, 2009). The main differences were the more

typical absence of familial support, specialized coaching, and adequate facilities in Brazil.

Moreover, these players dedicated childhood time practicing football to the detriment of

other activities, and they saw sport rewards as a possible path to improve their social

standing and support their families. According to the Brazilian footballer Didi, one of the

best midfielders of the world, "the boy who has an easy life doesn't have a chance in

football because he doesn't know the value of a plate of food” (Manual do Atleta

Inteligente, 2008, p. 47, our translation). Pelé also commented:

My father was a football champion in 1946, but three, four years later he broke his knee and we started to

have difficulties at home. My father was always my great idol, and I was observing his decline. At 13 years

of age I had to work to help my family. I went to sell newspapers, to polish shoes and I thought that I

wanted to be the same as my father; therefore, I was too much devoted to this work. When I worked in a

boot factory I thought about abandoning the dream of being a player but all those difficulties helped me a

lot to understand life and to value it. We were “hungry for playing”; I always put my heart into my football

boots. (Manual do Atleta Inteligente, 2008, p. 47, our translation)

The narratives of Brazilian sportswriter Rodrigues Filho (2003) have highlighted that,

since the introduction of football in the 1930s, Brazil has experienced two antagonistic

D. Araújo et al.

174

contexts of learning and practice. He described the experiences of higher social classes

who played on manicured grass fields with many facilities and specialized instruction

involving British coaches and Brazilian students recently graduated in Europe. Rodrigues

Filho (2003) contrasted those experiences with that of the lower social classes, without

access to football academies, coach education, and adequate material facilities.

Consequently, they were compelled to produce their own footballs (e.g., sock balls) and

play on the streets or fields of mud and stone, trying to express what they had seen at the

professional games, changing the movements into new movement forms. Players from

these lower social classes began to be accepted at small football clubs of higher classes,

performing more skilfully than players from the football academies.

Bronfenbrenner’s Interactive Dimensions

For Bronfenbrenner (2005), the power of developmental forces operating at any one

system level of the environment depends on the nature of structures existing at the same

or higher levels of the system. Bronfenbrenner (e.g., Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006)

considers the joint interaction (i.e., the process) of the person with the environment over

different timescales. This aspect helps, not only in organizing extant knowledge about

sport expertise, but also in the search for environmental variables at different levels of

analysis (micro, meso, exo and macrosystem). It considers different time scales (micro,

meso and macrotime, both from a personal and from a broader historical perspective), the

characteristics of the person, and the interactive nature of development (i.e., the process,

Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006). Importantly, this model is more a framework for

organizing knowledge than a theory of sport expertise. To this end, a joint perspective of

Gibsonian ecological psychology and dynamical systems theory, the ecological dynamics

perspective, is promising with respect to explaining the interaction of constraints at an

ecological scale (Araújo, Davids, & Serpa, 2005; Araújo, Davids, & Hristovski, 2006; Davids

& Baker, 2007, Phillips et al., 2010).

The influence of environmental constraints on non-experts‟ development is not clear. This

is a critical issue, since it is not clear whether there are some athletes experiencing

similar environmental population constraints who may not achieve expertise. It may be

possible that athletes from very different cultural backgrounds may achieve expertise in

different sports and physical activities (Salmela & Moraes, 2003). An implication of Davids

and Baker‟s (2007) review for understanding individual variations in sport performance is

that there may be diverse pathways to achieve the same performance outcome levels (see

also Phillips et al., 2010).

Conclusion

Recent research has begun to highlight the role of environmental constraints on the

development of sport expertise. The importance of putative secondary influences is being

investigated, by considering the influence of cultural importance, instructional resources,

familial support, sport maturity, and depth of competition (Baker & Horton, 2004).

However, more than intuitively exploring the environmental constraints that may have an

influence on the development of expertise, Bronfenbrenner‟s bioecological model (e.g.

Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006) guides and organizes this search for influences. In this

case, we can observe evidence for the influence of not so intuitive constraints, such as

those environmental constraints found in Brazilian football. This finding means that

Brazilian football is not an exception that contradicts past findings, but that a broader

theoretical view should be taken in order to contextualize past findings in their ecology.

Intercultural programs of research are much needed in order to further address this issue,

and it is firmly argued that without situating research findings in their ecology, an over-

generalization of what “appropriate” training environments are may occur. In this paper,

experiential knowledge of world-class footballers was examined showing how expertise

can be achieved with little formal coaching, without material facilities, and with little

parental support. Early specialization involving football type experiences and activities,

The Role of Ecological Constraints on Expertise Development 175

without a coach to structure training, played an important role in skill acquisition. In this

paper we argued that a different kind of early specialization exists, not based on precise

repetition of movement drills in structured practice tasks, but rather on a huge variability

of constraints encountered during self-generated, non-guided discovery learning during

play. In these practice environments, skill acquisition emerged from the athlete‟s

continuous adaptation to uncertain constraints. In this way, a broad range of early

specialization is developed. These findings contrast with perspectives on the

development of expertise through deliberate practice by Ericsson and colleagues

(Ericsson et al., 1993). In pelada, Brazilian players undertake a variety of different

activities with the ball and feet, not just official, structured football. These observations

cannot be considered deliberate play, either. They are not activities that resemble sports,

they are real football experiences under changing ecological constraints. However, the

qualitative data fit with findings from the studies of Côté and colleagues (e.g., Côté et al.,

2007), who noted that players can specialize very early in „feet-ball activities‟, but in the

Brazilian case, the activities have a direct correspondence to organized football.

Finally, the important, constraining characteristics of learning environments like the

pelada provide ideas on the design of practice constraints in modern sport development

programs. Some key characteristics of learning design include: (i) not relying on

formalised games and training drills all the time; (ii) designing fun and enjoyment (rather

than work as in deliberate practice) into programmes; (iii) creating learning environments

that encourage search, discovery and exploration in movements; (iv) enhancing adaptive

behaviours by creating opportunities for learners to satisfy different constraints (playing

in different weathers, against different age groups, gender, number of players, etc); (v)

varying equipment and facilities for practice, sometimes keeping the environment very

simple and uncluttered, varying surfaces, footwear, ball types; (vi) not conceptualising an

idealised target movement pattern as 'the' way to perform a skill; (vii) making sure that

skill practice is 'repetition without repetition'. But can talent development programs

change their practice to harness principles of unstructured play to ensure that learners

are open to the influence of informal environmental constraints? Family support, facilities

access and other environmental constraints need to be considered as integral constraints

on expert performance and development of expertise. An important part of exhibiting

expert performance involves understanding how to act in a manner that reflects the socio-

cultural context (Araújo, 2007). The performance of an expert should be conceived as

being influenced by an interaction of individual, environmental and task constraints

(Davids, Button, & Bennett, 2008). Ecological constraints such as quantity and quality of

practice, significant others‟ influence, coaching, available facilities and so on, may exert a

deliberate or an implicit influence, and both types of influences have a nonlinear impact

on the development of expertise. Only through acknowledgement of the ecological nature

of expertise development, guided by a theoretical framework such as Bronfenbrenner‟s

bioecological model (e.g., Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006), can meaningful practice

contexts be designed.

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The Authors

Duarte Araújo (born 1971) is Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Human Kinetics

at the Technical University of Lisbon in Portugal, where he is the director of the

Laboratory of Expertise in Sports. His research involves the study of cognition,

decision-making, and action in sport. He is an Editorial Board Member for the

International Journal of Sport Psychology.

Cristina Fonseca (born 1976) is a Master Student in Sport Psychology at Faculty

of Human Kinetics (Lisbon). She holds a specialization in Football and Futsal

Training and Development Methodology as well as a Bachelor degree in Sport

Science from the University of São Paulo (Brazil). She played football and futsal

for almost ten years and finished her career as professional football player at the

female team of Santos Football Club. Her research interests include decision-

making, expertise and football.

Keith Davids is Professor and Head of Human Movement Studies at Queensland

University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. His research interests include the

theoretical frameworks of ecological psychology and dynamical systems theory

applied to the study of neurobiological cognition and action. A particular

interest concerns the role of constraints in motor learning and the implications

for the acquisition of movement coordination.

Júlio Garganta (born 1956) is an Associate Professor at University of Porto

(Portugal) and leads the soccer department of the Faculty of Sport. His research

interests include talent development and expertise in team sports, and tactical

modeling in soccer. He serves as reviewer for international journals and has

published several works concerning teaching and training soccer. Since 1986,

he works as a teacher in coaching soccer programmes and he is involved with

high-level soccer as a consultant of professional soccer teams.

Anna Volossovitch (born 1970) is Assistant Professor of the Faculty of Human

Kinetics at the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal since 1998. She got her

Master degree in Sport Training in 1995 from the Ukrainian State University of

Physical Education and Sport and her PhD in Sport Sciences in 2008 from the

Technical University of Lisbon. Her main research interests lie in the field of

performance analysis, learning process and expertise development in sport

and, particularly, in team games.

The Role of Ecological Constraints on Expertise Development 179

Regina Brandão is Professor in Sport and Exercise Psychology for the Master

and Doctoral programs in Physical Education at the Universidade São Judas

Tadeu of São Paulo, Brazil. She has published five books on sport psychology. In

applied work Dr. Brandão has served as a sport psychology consultant of many

Brazilian coaches and athletes especially of the Brazil Soccer National Team and

Brazil Volleyball National Team. She has also served as a sport psychology

consultant of the Portugal Soccer National Team and the Saudi Arabia Soccer

National Team.

Ruy J. Krebs (born 1948) studied Physical Education at Federal University of Rio

Grande do Sul, Brazil. He got a Master degree in Physical Education from the

University of Iowa and a Master degree in Sport Administration from the

University of New Mexico. In 1987 he finished his PhD in Physical Education and

in 1994 he completed post-doctoral studies at the Indiana University. Since 1998

he is Director of the Motor Development and Learning Laboratory at the State

University of Santa Catarina, Brazil. His area of study is the application of the

Bioecological Theory of Human Development in the field of sports. Presently he

is member of the Managing Council of the International Society of Sport

Psychology.

D. Araújo et al.

180